Tell us how to make you safer, police and council ask Gospel Oak residents

RESIDENTS have been asked to tell the police and Camden Council how they would like their neighbourhood to be made safer after concerns about rises in drug dealing, violence and moped crime.

A meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) in Queen’s Crescent will give the public their chance to tell authorities how crime has affected their lives and what they think should be done about it.

On Sunday night an 18-year-old boy was stabbed repeatedly in Grafton Road, before collapsing in Kiln Place. His injuries are said to be “non-life threatening”. Police in the area have made repeated finds of weapons stashed on the street in recent months.

Held at 6:30pm in Queen’s Crescent Community Centre, the meeting will focus on the issues in the Gospel Oak area and is one of a series of “community conversations” that have been held across the borough.

Senior police officers will be joined by Holborn and St Pancras MP Keir Starmer, council leader Georgia Gould and the Town Hall’s community safety chief, Cllr Nadia Shah.

Cllr Jenny Mulholland, a Gospel Oak ward councillor, said the meeting was a response to “the public perception of rising crime and [anti-social behaviour] in the area over recent months, in particular youth violence, moped crime and drug dealing.”

Fellow Gospek Oak councillor Marcus Boyland, who has organised the meeting, said: “We know public services are under stress in many areas but we would encourage residents to come along and help us guide our community safety resources for Gospel Oak and to share their concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour in the Gospel Oak area.”